Raid in Iraq that killed 4 soldiers may be boldest yet

STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press

Published 6:30 am, Saturday, January 27, 2007

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — In perhaps the boldest and most sophisticated attack in four years of warfare, gunmen speaking English, wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying American weapons abducted four U.S. soldiers last week at the provincial headquarters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala and then shot them to death.

The U.S. military confirmed a report earlier Friday by the Associated Press that three of the soldiers were dead and one was mortally wounded with a gunshot to the head when they were found in a neighboring province, about 25 miles from the compound where they were captured. A fifth soldier was killed in the initial attack on the compound.

The new account contradicted a U.S. military statement Jan. 20, the day of the raid on an Iraqi governor's office, that five soldiers were killed "repelling" the attack.

In a statement issued late Friday, the military said two of the soldiers were handcuffed together in the back seat of a sport utility vehicle near the southern Iraqi town of Mahawil. A third dead soldier was on the ground nearby. The fourth died on the way to the hospital.

The brazen assault, 50 miles south of Baghdad, was conducted by nine to 12 gunmen posing as a U.S. security team, the military confirmed. The attackers traveled in black GMC Suburbans — the type used by U.S. government convoys — had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, and spoke English, according to senior U.S. military and Iraqi officials.

None of the U.S. or Iraqi officials would allow use of their names because of the sensitive nature of the information.

Details released

The confirmation came after nearly a week of inquiries. Within hours of the news report that four of the five dead soldiers had been abducted and found dead or dying about 25 miles east of Karbala, the military issued a long account of what took place.

"The precision of the attack, the equipment used and the possible use of explosives to destroy the military vehicles in the compound suggests that the attack was well-rehearsed prior to execution," said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl of the Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

"The attackers went straight to where Americans were located in the provincial government facility, bypassing the Iraqi police in the compound," Bleichwehl said. "We are looking at all the evidence to determine who or what was responsible for the breakdown in security at the compound and the perpetration of the assault."

The Karbala raid, as explained by the Iraqi and U.S. officials, began after dark Jan. 20, while American military officers were meeting with their Iraqi counterparts on the main floor of the Provisional Joint Coordination Center in Karbala.

Iraqi officials said the approaching convoy of Suburbans was waved through an Iraqi checkpoint at the edge of the city. The Iraqi soldiers believed it to be American because of the type of vehicles, the distinctive camouflage American uniforms and the fact that they spoke English. One Iraqi official said the leader of the assault team was blond, but no other official confirmed that.

A top Iraqi security official for Karbala province said that the Iraqi guards at the checkpoint radioed ahead to the governor's compound to alert their compatriots that the convoy was on its way.

Iraqi officials said the attackers' convoy divided upon arrival, with some vehicles parking at the back of the main building where the meeting was taking place, and others parking in front.

In its statement, the U.S. military said a soldier was killed and three wounded by a "hand grenade thrown into the center's main office which contains the provincial police chief's office on an upper floor."

The attackers seized four soldiers and an unclassified U.S. computer.

A senior Iraqi military official said the sophistication of the attack led him to think it was the work of Iranian agents in conjunction with Iraq's Shiite Mahdi Army militia, which Iran funds, arms and trains.

Soldiers remembered

The
Defense Department
has released the names of troops killed Jan. 20, but clearly identified only one as being killed because of the sneak attack.

Capt. Brian Freeman, 31, of Temecula, Calif., "died of wounds suffered when his meeting area came under attack by mortar and small-arms fire." Freeman was assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Whitehall, Ohio.

The only other troops killed that day in that region of Iraq were four Army soldiers said to have been "ambushed while conducting dismounted operations" in Karbala.

The soldiers were remembered Friday for their athleticism — one had competed with the U.S. bobsled team — for their compassion, and for their dedication.

"He always wanted to be in the military," said Karen Mezger, a friend of Fritz's family. "He was there because he believed in it."

Millican had been talking with his wife, Shannon, by webcam the day he was abducted, said Linda Hill of Locust Fork, a family friend.

Hill said Shannon Millican told her that night her husband had been killed.

Freeman was 16th in the 2003 U.S. skeleton national championships and won a bronze medal as a four-man sled brakeman at a 2002 America's Cup race.

Falter followed three of his older brothers into the Army — all still on active duty, but none currently in Iraq. His family released a statement saying: "We are extremely proud of Shawn's service and sacrifice to our country."

Chism was a former Boy Scout who enjoyed skydiving and rock climbing and became an artillery specialist.